Knowing a skill is not the same as doing it in real life
5 minute read · updated
Plenty of young adults can describe how to catch a train, budget for a purchase, or handle a change of plan. Being able to describe it is not the same as being able to do it, in the moment, when it is noisy and running late and nobody is prompting.
Where the gap comes from
Most learning about adult life happens in explanation: at home, in a classroom, in a session, in a social story. Explanation is useful. It is also the easiest part.
Doing the thing involves everything the explanation left out - the crowd on the platform, the card that declines, the staff member who speaks too fast, the moment where a decision has to be made in four seconds.
What the gap looks like in practice
- Knowing how a bus works, but not travelling to TAFE.
- Understanding money, but not managing a real purchase.
- Wanting a job, but not managing the routine around a shift.
- Knowing how to cook, but not planning and preparing a meal.
- Knowing about an appointment, but not organising to get there.
What closes it
Repetition in the real setting, with the level of support that fits the moment - and no more than that.
The level matters as much as the repetition. Support that does the task keeps the gap exactly where it is; support that stands nearby while the person does the harder part is what moves it. Both look like "support" on a timesheet.
A simple way to test it
- Pick a skill you believe they have.
- Ask when they last did it somewhere other than home, without you starting it.
- If the answer is "not recently" or "not without me", the gap is opportunity, not ability.
This is not a reason to remove support. It is a reason to be deliberate about which part of a task the support is doing.
Where this goes next
If this raised a question about a specific young adult, the Scorecard turns it into six concrete areas in about four minutes.